This lifeform is widespread in North America. The orange color will help identify this lifeform.

Hypomyces lactiflourum is a parasitic species that attacks other mushrooms. It can destroy the gills and cover most of the fruiting bodies of the attacked mushroom. The orange color helps identify this species.

Ascomycotina (Ascomycetes) are one of the four main groups of true fungi. They feature spores formed inside small cells of small oval or elongated shapes called asci. Two main groups make up this class. They are Discomycetes and Pyrenomycetes.

Most fungi are parasites on plants. Identification of many fungi is very difficult because their form and color is dependent on local conditions. One should not eat wild collected mushrooms as many edible species have poisonous look-alikes. Although we believe many of the species we show in this group are correctly identified,  we are also aware of instances where we doubt the identification.   We include these species to show the diversity of life,  as opposed to a method of precise species identification.